


Chilly is the evening time (Waterloo sunset's fine)

by Elofant



Series: Wolfstar Songfics [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Muggle, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Remus Lupin, Remus Lupins book obsession, Remus is a nerd, Sirius is an unexpected guest, The Kinks, Waterloo Sunset
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25748650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elofant/pseuds/Elofant
Summary: Remus Lupin is content, watching life from his window. So what if he’s forever alone. Who needs relationships anyhow? But when his friend coerces him into sitting an overgrown puppy (her words, not his) he might just change his mind.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Wolfstar Songfics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867780
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Chilly is the evening time (Waterloo sunset's fine)

**Author's Note:**

> The fic is inspired by the song "Waterloo Sunset" (The Kinks). Be sure to check it out, it's great :).

The Thames was a wonderful mystery to Remus Lupin. Every evening found him staring out of the window of his flat, looking at that brown mess. You could hardly see it move, but alas, it did. Boats rushed over the russet waves that reeked of old fish and oil. Sea gulls had their merry fun in chasing the ships and little boats that seemed to be lost on the busy waterway, flying over the shores demanding fries from passer byes. The setting sun painted the high rises of London in a rainbow, expertly like an expressionist artist, her glow reflected metallically from glass windows and freshly scrubbed metal beams. Her paintings were especially nice in winter, when the air would be clouded by smog softening the light, so that even with the reflecting mirror-like glass, the light itself remained faint.

It had been one of the selling points for this flat, Remus reflected as he watched people swarming in front of his window. The view and its closeness to the university, where he worked as a lecturer. In his job of exploring the dangers of poisonous animals and vicious plants, he spent long hours in different labs around campus, so the shorter his way home, the better.

The moment he saw this room with its window out towards the Thames, he knew he would make a reading nook at the window with its wide ledge, wide enough in fact for him to sit comfortably there. So he put down his pillows there, asked his Da to construct him a lovely side table big enough for a cup of tea, a teapot and a book, put up shelves for his books around the apartment and filled them. Now, five years after moving in, two roommates, three boyfriends and a couple of flings later he lived alone here and what always had threatened was finally occurring: the flat had turned into a library.

Groaning Remus stretched out his back, wincing slightly as it popped. Perks of living alone: no one yelled at him anymore when his joints popped. One of his old roomies, Lily, who happened to be one of his best friends on top of that, had always been appalled by him cracking his fingers and back, and his Ma was still on his case for it. But it did hurt if he didn’t crack, so he just kept on doing it.

Perks of living alone, he snorted derisively, perks indeed. No one to bother him about laundry or dished or his bloody creaky back. But also no one to save his flowers and get him to eat something if he got lost in research or a story.

Not to be misconstrued, Remus was content with his life. Not necessarily happy, but why would he need to be that? He was like that dirty old river he saw every day: even with all the shit people threw into it, it just kept doing its thing. It just kept flowing down till it met the sea and it took a different form in the waves that licked at the stony beaches of England. One day, he’d find his end, even if he hoped that it would take some time. Perhaps he would even intertwine with another river, but no… That hope he (should have) buried long ago.

Who could ever want him, Remus John Lupin? With his gangly, unfashionable limbs, his slightly crooked nose, his unruly dishwater blond curls and eyes roughly the colour of the Thames after a hard rain. Nobody could ever want him. The times before when he thought this boy, this man could be the One, well it had always ended sooner rather then later. They just all happened to be so bland and old fashioned and frankly not even his type. He just attracted the wrong kind of guy, the nine to five and always the same breakfast ones. The “lets have kids by thirty and always drive to the same spot every holiday” ones. Was there no adventure for him there?

Not that kids by thirty were bad. Lily and James had definitely cracked that age mark when they had had their son at just twenty-two. And he loved little Harry, almost as much as he loved giving him back after a couple of hours.

But Lily and James were different, they were a love story to behold. They had met back when Remus and Lily were living together. Once Lily had given James the time of day, after copious begging on his side, they had met at Waterloo Station every Friday night, without fail. And even now, when they had moved first over the river and were planning to leave the city all together to give Harry a garden to toddle in, they still left Harry here with him almost every Friday and went out. It was beautiful to watch them together, so in tune with each other. Not obnoxiously so, like those couples who could only exist next to each other and couldn’t let go of the others hand. Just nice together, right. Sometimes he wished… but it wouldn’t be. He was content to be single. He’d just get a cat or something.

A loud ringing startled him out of his musing. He blinked, needing a minute to place the noise. Phone. That was his phone. Not his mobile, but the actual old cord phone that his Da insisted he needed.

Getting up he managed to trip first over a book, then his feet until at last he regained his balance and managed to get out the door into the entry way of the flat. The phone was still ringing, spouting the generic fifties “ring, ring, ring”, that would vibrate through his head for the rest of the day.

“Lupin”, he said, desperately trying not to sound so out of breath when he finally reached to bloody thing, evading all the books that tried to trip him. They had almost hid the phone from him, had it not been ringing he wouldn’t have even found it. In retrospect, his beloved books might not have tried to hurt him, but to save him from the heartbreak sure to come.

“Mooy!”, a happy little voice called out from the phone.

“Hey Harry, darling.”, Remus sighed. “Did you call me all by yourself?”

“Nah, his Mummy wanted something.” A second, more adult voice answered him. “Good thing too, think about what would happen, if the little monster could call by himself already.”

“Really Lily, what are you calling your son there,” Remus laughed. Though she had a point. Imagining what mischief a three year old could wreak with a phone… he shuddered. “You’d have a little genius, if that were the case. So, what did you call me for? I can take Harry on Friday, if it’s that?”

“That would actually be wonderful, Rem, but I wanted to ask, if you could babysit someone else for a week or three. You do still have the spare bedroom?"

Remus bit his lip. He did still have the room yes, but… “It’s filled with books, dear. I’m not sure if its child proof. Whom do you need sitted by the by? I don’t think I’ll have the time to look after a kid, nor do I have the knowledge?”

Lily laughed, her voice a bit warbled through the phone. “Not a kid, more like an overgrown puppy. A friend of James is in a bit of a tight spot, split from his family, all that sh…shebang. He needs a place to stay. James told him he could stay at our flat when we move to Godric’s Hollow, but as you know we are behind schedule, so we would have to live together for three weeks and with the size of the flat as it is….”

“None of you would get a wink of sleep and Harry would become a cranky little monster, you would bite James head off, and Harry would be traumatized and most likely in my care, ‘cause James would be dead, you’d be in jail and I was stupid enough to take up the post as godfather. Let’s avoid that, please?” Remus chuckled good-naturedly, though he was not sure himself if he was joking. Lily was murderous after too little sleep. He knew that first-hand from living with her for over a year.

“I’ll take your puppy in, though I hope you were kidding. If you a bringing over a literal dog and he so much as looks at one of my books, you will regret it.” He said threateningly.

“He won’t, I promise. I’ve already sent him to your place, he should be ringing right about… now.” As if on cue, the doorbell rang. “I’ll let you get to know your new flat mate then! See you soon!” Lily was astoundingly and frighteningly fast to end the call. Just who exactly was standing outside his door?

The bell rang again. Cautiously Remus got to his feet. It was a friend of James, so most likely a geek with glasses twice as thick as they were long, bad hair and stupid punny shirts.

He slowly closed in on the door, as though a dangerous animal might jump through it at any second.

He grasped to door knob, turned it and found himself with a face full of long black hair and leather, as the man, who had evidently been standing with his back to the door, leaning against it for some unknown reason, tumbled right into him. With difficulty Remus stayed upright.

“You know, if you ring someone’s doorbell, it’s always a good idea to stand with your face to the door, you know, in case it opens”, he snarked as he righted himself and pushed to man back onto his own feet.

“You know”, the man echoed. “If someone rings at your door, you could open before the ringer despairs and attempts to call his friends asking what he’s to do when you aren’t home, just to be sucked into a vortex as the formerly closed door opens abruptly?”

While he had been speaking, the man had turned and, hell, he was beautiful. High cheekbones over a square jaw, his eyes little pools of quicksilver surrounded by long black eyelashes and long black hair. Had Snow White been male and an aristocrat, he would have been a perfect cast.

Those enigmatic grey eyes looked him up and down. A smirk graced those nicely sculpted lips. They would taste nice. Remus was sure of it.

“But I guess, you could trip me up any time, darling. I sure wouldn’t mind…”

With those words he picked up a dufflebag from besides the door and made his way into the flat. Remus could hear him faintly cuss at some poor book he had tripped upon.

This would be interesting, he thought. Overgrown puppy fit, he decided. But what a handsome boy he was. A smirk stole itself onto his face. He would still be in for a punishment if he chewed on the books. But living with this man would be fun. Perhaps sexually frustrating. But who knew? Perhaps he liked dog-sitting after all.

And perhaps, in a dark corner of his heart, a little flame rekindled. Perhaps there would be a shared waterloo sunset for him as well. A Waterloo sunset in which he would not need to be afraid of tomorrow, because he had his tomorrow beside him, gazing out over the Thames.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it.  
> I plan to add a few more short scenes to this AU, feel free to comment if you've got any ideas XD. Same as before, constructive criticism is welcome as well as pointig out grammar mistakes (I am certain there are some).  
> See ya,  
> Elofant


End file.
